Give Em' the Bird

Last week, the New York Knicks received some remarkably important news when the arbitration hearing concerning Early Bird Rights was ruled in their favor. In effect, the ruling meant that Jeremy Lin and Steve Novak could resign with the Knicks without their salaries counting against the salary cap. But what exactly was the impact of the ruling in favor of the NBAPA? First, a little history lesson. What exactly are Early Bird Rights? Well if you guessed that it had something to do with Larry Bird, you are indeed right. Back in the 1980s, the Celtics were seeking to resign Bird without it affecting their team salary cap. To appease the Celtics, the league instituted something called Bird Rights, which allows a team to resign a player for an amount up to the maximum allowable salary if the player has been with the franchise for any assortment of 3 years. Later, Early Bird Rights were introduced which allowed teams to resign players who had been with the franchise for any assortment of 2 years. In this case, concerning Lin, Novak and also Chauncey Billups, the NBAPA argued that teams should be allowed to resign players who had played with a team for a minimum of one year, thus allowing them to resign those players at the maximum allowable salary without it counting against the salary cap.
Remarkably complicated? Yes. So I'm here to simplify the equation for you as best as I can. In essence, a player with Early Bird Rights under the new ruling, unless the NBA's appeal is successful (fingers crossed), will allow the Knicks and Clippers to resign these players at no immediate harm to the team's cap. This is incredibly crucial for the Knicks who are desperate for a starting point guard and Lin certainly fits that mold. In addition, Novak was the top 3 point shooter in the NBA last season and brings an extra dimension to the game.
Ready for it to get even more complicated? The Knicks estimated salary for next season is a whopping $61,688,422, which is well over the cap line of $58.044 Million for the upcoming season under the newly ratified Collective Bargaining Agreement. Of course, teams are bound to go over but like in baseball, there are tax penalties for teams that choose to do so. Looking at the Knicks roster for the upcoming season, there are only 7 players currently under contract. This includes Carmelo Anthony, Amar'e Stoudemire, Tyson Chandler, Renaldo Balkman (who is no longer with the team), Toney Douglas, Iman Shumpert and Jerome Jordan. The Knicks do hold a team option on Josh Harrelson and J.R. Smith has until tomorrow to pick up a $2.5 Million player option for the upcoming season, which if he rejects, allows the Knicks to resign him at a 120% raise of his current salary. It is also expected that the Knicks will resign Landry Fields despite his struggles last season (there doesn't seem to be many takers for his services as of yet) and also expect the Knicks to bring back defensive stalwart Jared Jeffries at the veteran's minimum next season as well. But with the Knicks being well over the league's salary cap, how do they go about resigning these players and also bringing back Lin, Novak and any other free agents? Well the CBA also calls for something called Mid Level Exceptions (MLEs) and veteran's minimum contracts as previously mentioned. These are noted as contract exceptions which protect a team from too greatly exceeding the league's hard cap level. A veteran's minimum contract is as it sounds; a player who is a veteran in the league (5 years or more) can be signed for the league's minimum allowable salary. This can allow the Knicks to resign someone like Jeffries on the cheap without it affecting the cap drastically. The MLE is not as simple. There are two levels. The $3 Million exception and the $5 Million exception. The benefit of the $3 Million exception is that it allows teams to sign a free agent if they are over the cap without it affecting the previously mentioned hard tax line which teams over the salary cap may fall privy to. Of course, the disadvantage is that players in free agency will likely be seeking to make more money which brings the $5 Million exception into play. The benefit of the $5 Million exception is that it allows team to more aggressively pursue free agents with a greater salary to offer the players. The disadvantage of course is that it sets off the hard tax line and may affect a team's ability to navigate their salary cap in the future. Ok, now let me catch my breath.
With Lin and Novak presumably safely resigned under their newly enacted Early Bird Rights, the Knicks are free to use their veteran's minimum contracts, their MLE and also their bi-annual exception (which allows them to resign a free agent at a $1.672 Million annual contract). So what does this all mean for the Knicks to now be players in the 2012 free agency game? With guys like Steve Nash, Ray Allen, Raymond Felton and Jason Kidd available beginning at the start of free agency on July 1st, the Knicks are now free to use these various contract exceptions in order to bolster their team roster and become serious players to challenge the defending champion Heat next season. While it may be a reach, the Knicks could presumably sign Nash at the MLE of $5 Million (it's unlikely he'd take the $3 Million option), Kidd at the MLE of $3 Million (if Nash does not work out and Kidd is willing take the pay cut for a chance at challenging the Heat), and look to sign Allen and/or Felton with the veteran's minimum or with the bi-annual exception. All this, with Lin and Novak possibly on the roster as well. There are also rumors of the aforementioned Landry Fields being traded for a late 1st round draft pick in this Thursday's NBA draft or maybe even for a swingman like Gary Neal who could greatly fill a void in the backup SF position for the team. So what could the Knicks roster possibly look like for the upcoming season? Feast your eyes:
PG- Lin, Kidd/Nash/Felton/Douglas
SG- Smith/Shumpert (likely returns by January from ACL surgery)/Allen
SF- Anthony/Fields/Neal
PF- Stoudemire/Jeffries/Novak
C- Chandler/Jordan
And a likely starting 5 (for the time being) of:
PG- Lin
SG- Allen or Smith
SF- Anthony
PF- Stoudemire
C- Chandler
It's all remarkably complicated and all this may not even register through to everyone, but know this; the Knicks could be even better than last season and give the league it's first taste of real Linsanity and Mobb Deep action with a challenge to the reigning champion Miami Heat and the rest of the NBA for the fast approaching 2012-2013 NBA season. Here's to hoping.